GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal was interviewed on the latest episode of “Totally Driven Radio”, the weekly radio podcast heard live every Thursday night from 8 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EST on the VOC Nation Radio Network. You can now listen to the podcast using the audio player below.

Asked about GUNS N’ ROSES‘ continual stage tardiness, with long waits for singer Axl Rose just as much a definite at a the band’s concerts a couple of years ago as hearing “Paradise City” or “Welcome To The Jungle”, Thal said: “That hasn’t happened for a long time. But it did for a long time. And that’s not something that I can ignore and pretend hasn’t happened or didn’t happen.

“I absolutely had the hardest time out of anybody in the band with that stuff — with ‘late’ stuff.

“I’m always in touch with one very simple thing: you make music to make people happy. You put on a show, you entertain — whatever you wanna call it — you do it to make people happy. And to be happy, and to just share this great moment together. And anything that takes away from that or undoes that or creates the opposite of that is completely just anti why you’re doing what you’re doing. So if there are 20,000 people that are pissed off, ’cause we just left them…

“I mean, hell, if I have to wait five minutes longer in a doctor’s office, or in traffic or something like that, I’m starting to get annoyed. So imagine, if that’s five minutes, imagine two hours. Yeah, I get it; I totally get it. It’s not like I don’t care, it’s just… there’s nothing I can do.

“But that was something I had a very hard time with, and there’s been times when I just walked off stage and just started throwing a fit on the side. I had a really hard time with that, and I understand, and I know. And it’s not just that, it’s not just the waiting, it’s the fact that.. if you’re gonna do that to someone that isn’t expecting that and has a babysitter waiting, or you have to be up in four hours for work, or whatever it is, or the buses are gonna stop running soon, or whatever it is.

“It’s, like, you didn’t go out that night and buy those tickets and do us the honor of having your presence there just to stain our existence so that we could completely fuck you and inconvenience you and put you in this position wher, alright, ‘My life is gonna be really annoying, and I have to choose between missing the show after waiting for it, or seeing it.’

“I’ve gotten so much resentment over that from people. And they have the right. And I’m just happy that that’s not happening anymore. And I’m really, really happy that we’ve been going on time, close to on time, sometimes early. And I know the fans are very happy; the people that come to the show are much happier about that.

“There’s always the fans that are, like, ‘Nah, it’s a rock concert. They should be three hours late.’ Maybe for you, but not for the other 20,000 people… Everyone’s got responsibilities. Rent isn’t what it was in the ’70s. There’s a lot more living hand to mouth, and you can’t fuck with that. And I get it. And this is not some kind of, like… I’m not trying to bash Axl or anything. I get it. And I’m just glad that we’ve been doing better with that.”

In an August 2010 radio interview, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, a close personal friend of Axl Rose, offered an explanation for why the GUNS N’ ROSES frontman is persistently late going on stage. “Everybody has all these theories as to why he acts the way he acts, and there’s no big mystery,” Bach said. “He tells me the source of all of the insanity — it’s his voice. It’s his job to sing like that, and sometimes that sound is hard for him. And a lot of singers, you know… To sing in that range is just not an easy thing to do. And he does what he can, and it takes him 45 more minutes to warm up his pipes so he can sing ‘Sweet Child O’Mine’.”

Knockout Live, the leader in global IPTV Networks announced today, via Knockout For A Cause, the assignment of popular guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal as the 2013-214 Chairperson.

The talented musician, known for his lead guitarist position with the mega group GUNS N’ ROSES, accepted the position as the 2013-14 Chairperson for the Rock2Live Music Series. The gifted performer is firmly dedicated to helping schools adapt the program this fall as the main Ambassador To The Cause.

Thal has been an advocate for the arts in schools and a well known supporter of school music programs. The performing artist and producer frequently volunteers his time to benefit schools between concerts and recordings.

The Knockout For A Cause Foundation provides schools across the country with a public service program against bullying, texting while driving and obesity. The foundation has been developing a streaming entertainment product to replace the candy bar drives in schools helping curve the use of unhealthy fundraising items that are traditionally used.

The program is made up of registered schools throughout the country, with approximately 1,000,000 students registered into the program. Many more schools are expected to enter the program this school year with expectations of approximately 20,000,000 students enrolled by the end of the 2013-14 school year.

Once all schools have returned to session from summer break, the Rock2Live PSA Music Series will announce the events and schedule for this year. The Foundation is dedicated to providing alternatives to raising badly needed funds while delivering vital messages to the students, schools and supporters.

What appears to be a brand new Guns N’ Roses song has leaked online and, according to MetalSucks, current Gn’R guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal has actually confirmed that the track is legit – although his confirmation has since been seemingly deleted.

Note how the track, titled Going Down, features lead vocals from bassist Tommy Stinson, with Axl Rose seemingly happy to be on backing duties.

Geeks Of Doom: The three guitar players in GUNS N’ ROSES [including DJ Ashba and Richard Fortus] all have different styles and come from different backgrounds, musically. Do you all learn styles and techniques from each other?

Bumblefoot: We haven’t done a lot of that, sitting around with guitars showing riffs. We spend more time without our guitars, socially. We see enough of each other with our guitars!

Geeks Of Doom: The band sometimes gets bad press, mostly because of the time-keeping issues and basically because some people can’t handle the fact it’s not the same guys as in 1986. And yet GUNS N’ ROSES is arguably as popular as it has ever been and playing in parts of the world GN’R has never been before. Do you feel like it’s a no-win situation or do you think you’re helping to take the band forward?

Bumblefoot: My focus is on making music and doing positive things with my life.

Geeks of Doom: Fair enough. You recently played a couple of dates in Canada to round off some pretty hectic touring. Is GN’R having a rest now?

Bumblefoot: GN’R seems to be having a rest, but anything could change at any time. Meanwhile, I’m starting to ease back into doing my own solo shows again. During the break, I’ve got Bumblefoot shows scheduled in August for Italy, Greece, Albania, and Tunisia. Hoping to do more in the next few months.

Geeks of Doom: You said recently you would prefer GN’R to release songs one at a time rather than do a whole album. Has there been any movement on this?